Pratt & Whitney already is reaping benefits from its recently established Singapore technology accelerator (STA), citing more than 30 innovations that have emerged from the initiative to maximize maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) productivity. In 2022, the company announced a collaboration with the Singapore Economic Development Board to establish the technology accelerator program.
The STA works with more than 20 Singapore companies to develop new technologies in the commercial aviation sector. Its projects have focused on automation, advanced inspections, connected factories, and digital twins, P&W said, noting that the innovations are being applied across its four Singapore-based MROs.
“STA is a focal point for the innovative thinking and enterprising spirit of our employees, applied to scale technologies across our MRO facilities faster and better,” said Gilbert Sim, P&W's director of aftermarket global operations technology and CORE (customer-oriented results and excellence). “We will continue working with MRO facilities and centers of excellence in Singapore and throughout the network to deliver more technology insertion projects.”
As the technologies undergo evaluation at the Singapore facilities, P&W plans to roll them out throughout its global MRO footprint to improve throughput and turnaround time, the engine maker said.
Beyond STA, P&W has worked with centers of excellence around the world to develop and deploy other advanced repair capabilities in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.